Review Parts for a Home PC

thisusernameistaken on 11/05/2022 - 12:42

I'm planning on building a PC that will be used by my parents for web browsing, emails and office documents. I would like to get some feedback from some veteran PC builders on my parts list.

The budget is $1200

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard - MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory
Boot Drive - Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage - Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive [ST2000DM006] x 2
PSU - EVGA 600 GD 600W 80+ Gold Power Supply 100-GD-0600-V4
WiFi - Tenda E12 AC1200

PCPartPicker list (some parts above aren't on PCPartPicker)

I chose ST2000DM006 drives as it's supposedly non SMR but it seems to be discontinued. I want to run both hard drives in raid one. Any recommendations on a non SMR internal hard drive that's at least 2 TB would be greatly appreciated.

I will be reusing an optical drive from the old computer. Not sure if the PSU will have enough connections for two hard drives and an optical drive. As I don't have a graphics card, the estimated watts is approximately 200W. Is it better to get a low watt PSU (like 400W or 500W) or is 750W okay? A semi modular or modular PSU would be nice but I can't seem to find one that is also low watts.

The case comes with two front fans. I'm guessing I will need one more fan for the rear?

Finally, is there anything else I need to purchase? SATA cables? Anti static mat? I'm really new to PC building.

Thank you!

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • CrispyChrispy on 11/05/2022 - 12:55
    +6

    Wayyyyy overkill for just a PC that will be used for web browsing and emails. Wait around for an Optiplex deal like this one and it will be just fine. For what reason do they need 16GB of RAM and 5TB of storage?

    • YeemaiI on 11/05/2022 - 13:01
      +7

      Perhaps OP's parents don't know how to close Chrome tabs

    • djones145 on 11/05/2022 - 13:11
      +3

      nah needs more ram and RTX 3080 TI

      in case for those odd occasions op is at parents house for dinner and wants to game ( I.e every night)

      • freefall101 on 11/05/2022 - 14:49

        Back in the day my local library had to refit their PCs, however they were given way more budget than needed. So instead of handing the money back, they went with the fastest desktop computers possible, GPU included, under the guise they'd "last longer".

        Pretty sure they never figured out why some kids were spending hours on the library computers.

        Anyway, OP, go to town on it. You never know who else might appreciate that excessive hardware.

  • CrispyChrispy on 11/05/2022 - 13:02
    -1

    OP, a 128GB SSD will be just fine for just about everything. If you/they are backing up photos/videos on the PC, stick a 1TB HDD in there as well and be done with it.

    You also don't need to spend $$$ on a WiFi adapter/card, just get a $10-$20 USB Wifi adapter off eBay/Amazon/AliExpress. It'll be perfectly fine.

    Buy a prebuilt. If you're learning how to build a PC and this is your first one, go for it, but you really don't need anything that expensive.

    • CodeExplode on 11/05/2022 - 13:15

      For WiFi USB adapters I can personally recommend the TP-Link TL-WN821N Wireless N USB Adapter, it worked fine for me for years until I got a motherboard with built in wifi.

    • thisusernameistaken on 11/05/2022 - 13:33

      I am trying to future proof the build. The previous PC was built back in 2013 and had an i7 processor, 8 GB of ram and two hard drives running in RAID 1. It was overkill at the time but was also future proofed. It ended up being used for more than just basic tasks as I was doing some video editing at the time. This PC will also serve as a backup PC for other members of the household.

      Price isn't really an issue and my parents would prefer to buy new and have a PC that will last a long time.

      The usable storage will be 3TB as the two hard drives would be in RAID 1. There is also a terabyte of files to move across.

      You also don't need to spend $$$ on a WiFi adapter/card, just get a $10-$20 USB Wifi adapter off eBay/Amazon/AliExpress. It'll be perfectly fine.

      Thanks. The card I selected is $34

  • Twix on 11/05/2022 - 13:20
    +1

    Nah you don't need to purchase a anti static mat. Google for other ways to ground yourself when building PCs.

    Two SATA cables come included with that MSI motherboard. Purchase another SATA cable for the optical drive.

    The EVGA 600 GD 600W has enough connectors for the hard drives and optical drive. A 500W PSU is plenty for this PC and 600W-750W isn't necessary.

    What is the reason for running a RAID1?

    Warning: The MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard supports the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor with BIOS version 7C56vA7. If the motherboard is using an older BIOS version, upgrading the BIOS will be necessary to support the CPU.

    • thisusernameistaken on 11/05/2022 - 13:42

      Thank you for the feedback.

      A 500W PSU is plenty for this PC and 600W-750W isn't necessary.

      A PCByte rep was recommending this PSU. Dad wants a good PSU that won't "blow up" and the EVGA one is 80+ Gold with a 5 year warranty.

      What is the reason for running a RAID1?

      The PC that's being replaced was also custom built and had RAID 1 setup. I think it's more for peace of mind as my parents rarely backup the computer and Dad wants it in the new build.

      Warning: The MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard supports the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor with BIOS version 7C56vA7. If the motherboard is using an older BIOS version, upgrading the BIOS will be necessary to support the CPU.

      Yep, I'm aware of that. The motherboard supports USB BIOS flashback so I should be able to upgrade it easily without a compatible CPU.

      • Twix on 11/05/2022 - 13:54

        RAID1 is not a proper backup. RAID1 protects against hardware failure. RAID1 doesn't protect their files against malware, accidental file deletion and more. He should have at least one external SSD or external hard drive and optionally a cloud service for backups.

        • thisusernameistaken on 11/05/2022 - 13:55

          Yeah, it's probably better if we get an external hard drives instead of two internal drives. Do you know of a non SMR internal drive though?

          • Twix on 11/05/2022 - 14:03
            +1

            @thisusernameistaken: Configure the external drives to automatically backup and all they have to do is plug it in every so often.

            WD Red Plus 2TB WD20EFZX is CMR.

  • kaleidoscope on 11/05/2022 - 13:21

    For your requirements I’d go with a laptop. If needed can be upgraded with an external monitor and an external storage device for backup of office documents.

    Your original specs are way too much for an everyday use computer.

    • thisusernameistaken on 11/05/2022 - 13:53

      The current setup is a 2013 computer with two monitors. They're happy with it and just want an upgrade.

  • garetz on 11/05/2022 - 15:56

    Looks good.

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